Early on Sunday, November 14 last year James Jennings, now 24, stole a Mitsubishi Triton from Darling Mills Road in Albion Park.

Shortly before 12.30am, highway patrol officers checking speeds on the M1 Princes Motorway at Yallah caught Jennings in the Triton doing 121 km/h in the 100 km/h zone.

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They turned on their lights and sirens and caught up to Jennings, but he failed to stop - instead, he accelerated up to about 130 km/h.

Police gave chase and Jennings increased his speed, up to about 150 km/h.

The Polair chopper began following the pursuit, which ended as Jennings took the Northcliffe Drive exit off the M1.

But the helicopter monitored from the air while police vehicles followed Jennings from a distance through Kembla Grange, Horsley, Dapto, Albion Park Rail, Oak Flats and Warilla.

Jennings stopped in George Street shortly before 1am and got out, but when police pulled up behind him he got back into the stolen vehicle, locked the doors and started the ignition.

He then rammed another parked vehicle in an attempt to flee then reversed and drove away.

The PolAir chopper continued to follow him and officers on board directed their colleagues on the ground to a reserve in Warilla, where Jennings had parked and tried to hide in a creek.

He was arrested and taken to Lake Illawarra Police Station, before officers took him to Shellharbour Hospital for a blood test.

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They believed Jennings was drug-affected because his speech was slurred, he was unsteady, his pupils were dilated and his eyes were blood-shot.

Jennings even told them: "I took the car, I am drug-f--ked, I take any drugs I can get my hands on, I have had ice and Xanax, I am drug-f--ked".

Earlier this year he pleaded guilty to charges of police pursuit, dangerous driving, taking and driving a vehicle, driving under the influence of drugs, exceeding the speed limit by over 10 km/h and driving unlicensed.

Jenning's defence lawyer Kirby Hill told Wollongong Local Court that her client deserved a 15 per cent discount on his sentence for pleading guilty.

She said the 24-year-old was surrounded by drugs and alcohol growing up, and he had schizophrenia which affected his ability to make rational decisions.

But Ms Hill noted that Jennings did have a criminal record for police pursuits.

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She submitted Magistrate Michael Ong could consider an intensive corrections order, to give Jennings access to rehabilitation options not available to him in custody.

If not, she said, she asked Magistrate Ong to make a finding of special circumstances to give Jennings more time on parole, because of his youth, the onerous conditions he'd experienced in custody, and his Aboriginality.

Jennings had been in custody since last November.

Magistrate Ong said the facts of the case were "extremely concerning" and Jennings had exposed himself, police and the public to an "unbelievable level of danger".

He took the time Jennings had already spent in custody into account, but said there was no alternative to full-time imprisonment.

Magistrate Ong sentenced Jennings to 20 months' imprisonment and made a finding of special circumstances because of his age and his need for supervision in the community.

Jennings will become eligible for release next January.

He will also be put on a community corrections order for three years and is banned from driving for two years.

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